The Long Road to Empowerment

Policy targets, events, and photographs often hide the persistent limits women face in everyday decision-making.

- Irfan Jaffer

I spend much of my time moving between villages and semi-urban settlements, sitting in courtyards, anganwadis, and small community halls.

On official files, these places are full of empowered women. Schemes have reached them. Groups have been formed. Trainings have been completed.

But on the ground, the story is more layered.

Many of the women I met were members of self-help groups. They attended meetings, signed registers, and handled group savings. Some kept detailed records with care and discipline. Their names appeared in progress reports as active participants.

Still, many of them asked for permission before leaving home. Some rushed back early to avoid questions. Others spoke softly, watching who might be listening.

I met women who managed group money but had no role in deciding how money was spent in their own homes. I spoke with women who could explain loan rules clearly but had little say in household choices.

These moments revealed a gap that numbers fail to show.

Being part of a program does not always mean having control over one's life.

One of the most difficult lessons from my fieldwork was understanding that control does not come only from men. In many homes, women also enforce limits on other women.